NYAMINYAMI – THE RIVER GOD
MYTHS & LEGENDS
As the waters of Zambezi thunder Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe stands smiling bonded by its mysteries and myths. The same ore or shadow, which propound the country, was the same will used in the countries drive for independence.
With myth and mystery. The lake is associated with the River God, Nyaminyami. The mythical god is said to have been enraged by the displacement of his people, which led to major difficulties during construction of the dam. In revenge around 80 people lost their lives when storms from the Zambezi River collapsed Kariba. Even the sun shunned construction of Kariba. Subsequent soaring temperatures forced workers to house their tools in cooling buckets. Displaced animals were rescued from the Lake in what is now known as Operation Noah!
African mythology of the local Tonga tribe of the Zambezi Valley states that Nyaminyami the River God who lives in Lake Kariba is believed to be a serpent-like creature. He is said to be about three metres wide, but nobody dares to guess at his length. Legends have it that the water stains red when he swims past. Chief Sampakaruma saw him on two occasions many years ago, but the river god has been in hiding since the white men arrived in the country.
According to African mythology he lived under a large rock close to the present day Kariba dam wall. No tribesman would venture near it those few who did were sucked down with their canoes in the whirlpools and never seen again. They called the rock Kariwa, the “trap” and hence the name of the lake, Kariba.
The rising water of lake Kariba covered the rock Kariwa and it now lays 30 metres below the surface annoying Nyaminyami. The tonga people also believe that Nyaminyami is married and that the building of Kariba Dam wall would seperate him from his wife, this would anger him greatly and the river god threatened the peace of the valley.
City dwellers had mocked the stories of Nyaminyami, the river god but by 1958 the laughter had turned to chilled apprehension. Especially for those working on the project of building Kariba dam wall. Survey work on the proposed dam wall began in the late 1940’s. On the night of the 15th February 1950 a cyclone from the Indian Ocean swept up the valley. Such a thing had never been heard of in this landlocked, stable land. Fifteen inches of rain, driven by a hurricane, fell in a few hours.
The river rose seven metres that night. A number of villages were swept away. When rescue teams finally managed to reach the area three days later, the putrefying bodies of antelope and other animals were seen hanging from the tops of trees. The survey team had perished in a landslide.
Work on the dam began in earnest in 1955 – but on Christmas Eve that year, an unprecedented flood stormed down the gorge and washed away the foundations of the coffer dam and the recently constructed pontoon bridge. The flood peaked, receded, and then peaked again.
Work on the dam began in earnest in 1955 – but on Christmas Eve that year, an unprecedented flood stormed down the gorge and washed away the foundations of the coffer dam and the recently constructed pontoon bridge. The flood peaked, receded, and then peaked again.
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